Image by Getty Images (8)

(JTA) — A Turkish reporter admitted that he fabricated a quote by Jared Kushner in which President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser reportedly said Turkish President Recep Erdogan “is making Turkey great again like [the] U.S. We watch his efforts with appreciation.”

Yavuz Atalay, a reporter for the newspaper AKSAM, told The Daily Caller Thursday that he made up the quote.

In a private Twitter exchange with The Daily Caller, Atalay said he spoke with Kushner for less than two minutes.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“He did not say that,” Atalay wrote of the quote in question. “I asked him, ‘Do you think, Erdogan is making Turkey great again, like Trump?’ and he only said, ‘Yeah, I think so.’”

The White House did not respond to a follow-up question about the interview. A selfie with Kushner and the reporter accompanies the article.

Atalay has a history of exaggerating the Trump administration’s view of Erdogan and the Turkish government, according to The Daily Caller.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount